A thimble match in a long field of sand. The pattern waves intersecting across the long-distance of dunes. I walked across the dark shadowed world as the orange and yellow sky parted into a dark black blue.
Night came quick.
I walked next to Ceauli who held out a small lantern of light as Tusk walked ahead of us.
"Shouldn't we be there yet?" I asked Ceauli.
She turned to me with a look of the same confusion, "you think I'd know? It's all just a dessert, we've been following Tusk for hours." she leaned in and whispered, "I don't think he even knows where he's going."
Tusk turned to our conversation. His red eyes glistening through the darkness like falling stars in the sky.
He pointed behind him, "it's just beyond this ridge."
He stepped onto the ridge as Ceauli and I did the same. We looked out into the dark distance as small lights lit up in a small one-lined sectioned area of thatched houses and small housed shacks.
Ceauli's eyes lit up as she cried out in tired desperation, "YESSSSS! We finally made it! No more walking! A showering! Good food!"
She jumped off the ridge and slid into the darkness.
"Damn is she excited," I sighed.
Tusk looked out into the distance with a plain emotionless face.
"We should move. The night brings monsters," he said seriously.
"Yeah, your right. I don't wanna deal with those monsters again."
I stepped forward as a sudden whooshing sound echoed in the distance. I looked up at the sky as Tusk did the same.
"What is tha-"
"Get down!-"
Tusk grabbed my head and threw me to the ground as the whooshing sound grew closer.
Slink!
Suddenly from out of nowhere, an arrow pierced into Tusk's shoulder. The pure power of the arrow and the force of the incision into his armor and skin repelled him to the side, which in turn, pushed him off the side of the ridge and down into the open field of sand leading to the fishing village of Morigan.
"Tusk!" I screamed out as his body vanished into the darkness.
I now laid out alone on the top of the ridge, the silent whistling of arrows flying across the skies as I looked up in fear.
"Shit... Where do I..." I turned around and quickly jumped behind the upper lip of sand as three arrows pierced behind me.
Thunk-thunk-thunk-
They each missed as my body tumbled on the opposite side that Ceauli and Tusk jumped from. What was that! Ceauli did talk about an ancient deity that guarded this area... Are we really getting attacked, or is this a monster!
I sat up and looked over my small sandy cover. I looked into the soft darkness and saw a small flickering flame running across the long field of sand.
"So Ceuali's making a run for the village... But what happened to Tusk?"
---
Tusk tumbled down a dry duned slide of sand as he clutched his sword. He pulled it from its sheath, and stabbed deep into the sand, stopping his descent deeper into the darkness. He then looked up at the bright shining half-moon that reflected its soft rays against the peak of the ridge.
Fwooosh!
Another arrow came whistling up as Tusk quickly deflected it with the back of his sword.
Tink!
He then fumbled back from the force while pulling out a small piece of wool from a small belt pouch under his cloak. He touched the wool to his sword.
Spark-zap-whoosh!
The sword lit a spark against the wool instantly lighting it aflame.
"Where did that come from?" he asked himself as he quickly pulled out the arrow from his shoulder and looked at it through the orange light flickering off the small piece of flaming wool.
He looked at the design of the arrow. He looked at the bloody tip and staff, and the feathered back.
"Shoddy craftsmanship but..." He looked at the tip of the arrow, "it's sharpened and narrowed... Someone who knows what they're doing modified this... So it is you..."
---
The hooded figure in the pitch of dark pulled another arrow from their basket and placed it firmly against the horsehair string of their bow. They then gripped tight to the black staff and placed their foot against the bottom half of the lower limb, allowing for more control.
In a soft light voice, the figure said to itself, "where are you...?"
The figure scanned the pitch darkness. It looked at the running lantern as Ceauli reached the village. It ignored her and then focused on the small flame flickering near a curved sandy dune.
"Found you..."
The figure aimed their bow up high and fired a quick shot.
Thwunk!
The arrow flew across the bright moon-lit sky, arched at a curve, and whistling at incredible speeds as it readied to hit Tusk head-on with perfect accuracy. But as it drew in close a sudden and slight distortion erupted in the surrounding air.
Tusk said in a gravelly strong tone, "thunderclap!"
A wave of powerful explosive sound erupted from the tip of his black and gold sword.
BOOOM!
The wave of sound turned into distortions in the air as the entire surrounding sky, clouds, and sand burst out into a powerful vibrating cloud of yellow and blue spark dust.
The figure on the hill looked at the electric light pulsating from Tusk's direction. It watched as the arrow snapped upon touching its massive bubbling wave that pulsated outward.
"A Sword of Fuen... So it's him..."
---
Tusk snapped his sword back into its bloody sheath and stepped up from his groveling sandy seat. He looked out at the wave of sound and electric waves as it pulsated across the surrounding distance, lighting up everything in sight.
"I'll find you... Hawk of Death."
---
The Hawk of Death slowly stood up and lowered their bow down to the sandy ground.
It said in the same soft voice, "so it's you Killer of Kings... You've come after Sariel once and for all. How original..."
The Hawk of Death pulled its dark hood from its shadowed face, revealing a beautiful long mane of flowing dirty blonde hair.
The Hawk of Death, the Guardian of Morigan, the Deity of the Arrow, was no deity, nor no man. She was but a human... A human woman...